Wichita eagle., 1887-09-21
uEtrhtta Bauiup,



living was aboard had crossed my mind. m
deed, I was only too thankful that had not
encountered any dead / was about through
with my meal and was thinking Of making
careful investigation below when l was sud-
denly seized from behind, flung violently to
the deck from my seat on the main hatch,
and found myself on my back with man
on top Of me, his hand on my throat and his
knee on my chest. 1t came upon me so very
sudden that l had no strength for a time. lie
was only when the stranger raised his other
hand, which clutched an iron Delaying pin. to
give me a blow on the head, that l put forth
any effort It was well for me that l was IN
the prime OF life and possessed Of lots OF
strength, for he was a burly fellow and de-
termined to do for me. ! tore his clutch
loose and put forth great effort and turned
him over, but we had a terrific struggle be-
fore conquered him. did not get the bet
ter Of him until had given him rap over
the head with the same pin. While he was
unconscious l tied him hand and foot, and
then for the first time got good look at him
BE was a common sailor, strong as bull,
and without doubt lunatic Fear Of death
had unsettled his mind and led him hide
himself away when the others left the brig.
He had looked upon me as an enemy, and no
doubt intended to take my life.
Well, after / had the man securely tied he
recovered consciousness, and it was well that
1 had not been sparing Of the rope He made
herculean efforts to break loose, and, being
now in sort Of frenzy, he would have been
more than match for me- His screams and
shrieks and curses were awful to hear, and
1.fS $,o3$ 20 locl md H0Snan6~
ed into the cabin. Scarcely anything here
had been disturbed by human hands. found
the briggs log, and from it made out that
her name was the St Joseph, and that she
had been up the coast on trading voyage.
She had q cargo of fine woods, hides, fUrs,
spices and dried fruits, and carried crew OF
twelve men, The last entry in the log told
of fair run and fair weather. Her cargo /
got from her papers. When had thorough
ly ransacked the cabin went forward to the
forecastle The men had gone without their
bags. Then / went on deck, found the sound
ing rod. and sounded the we'll The brig did
not have two inches Of water in her. 1 was
fussing about for 4 couple of hours, and dur
ing all that time the lunatic never ceased to
scream and shout and try to burst his bonds.
When finally got around to see if l could
not do something for him he all ut once sub
sided. and would neither look at nor speak to
me.
During the afternoon the wind was con-
stantly falling and the sea going down, and
the weather put on such a settled look that l
grew very hopeful was aboard Of hulk,
drifting / knew not where. and had dan
gerous man for comrade, but there was
plenty to eat, the brig was dry, and the
chances Of being sighted and rescued We're
good. It was long afternoon to me, though
was kept busy rImmaging about and clear
ing up the litter When the sun finally went
down the night came on hazy, and the wind
fell to q two knot breeze. l was IN great
uuandary as to what to do with the man, who
seemed to have been asleep for several hours.
l lighted the ships lanterns and hung them
overheard, and then, about two hours after
dark. carried the man some tea and bread
and canned fruit. He lay on the broad of
his back, and was deaf to my soothing words.
held up his head and put the tea to his lips,
and in an instant he seemed to go wild. By
a mighty effort he loosesed the ropes-I
aforementioned he had gnawed some Of chem
in twain-and next instant he was upon me.
Neither Of US had any weapons, nor was there
10 StSulc thS4I to SiuPPAOo
each other, and in less than minute l saw
that it was his life or mine, or perhaps both.
He was seeking to drag me to the broken bull
warks and / was seeking TO prevent. He had
a grip like death, and as we struggled back
and forth amidships We tore the clothes of
of each other, and used our hands and feet
whenever there was an opening. he was the
stronger Of the two, but could use my fists
the better, and this evened US up. / said that
we had no weapons had my sheath knife,
but did not propose to use that until I felt
that my live depended upon it. The time
finally came. was growing weak, while he
seemed as strong as ever. I was just about
to loosen the grip had on him with my right
hand and reach for my knife when there was
q great shout from the bows, a number Of
men came running along the decks, and a
voice which recognized as that of the mate
of the Stranger called out:
"Whar is IT. Who are you1 What is going
onf'
"Lay hold of him, Mr. Jameson; he's crazy!"
I shouted, and with that four or five men
seized him and flung him to the deck.
Now, let me tell you what had happened.
1 was lost overheard from the ship about
midday. Six hours afterward she sprung
aleak. and was abandoned just before she
went down. The crew got away in two
boats, outlived tho storm, and were heading
up for Madagascar when they espied my
lights and altered their course to make the
wreck. They had hailed the hulk several
times, and finally came aboard just in time
to prevent q deed which would have been
burden on my peace of mind forever after.
The crew which left the brig were never
heard of more, while the lunatic died next
day after our men came aboard. Not man
from the Stranger was lost, and we rugged up
the brig and took her to the Cape, and the
salvage more than paid for the loss Of our
ship and cargo.-New York Sun.